And for that, Kayla owed her an awful lot.
“Don’t apologize. You have every right to be shook.” Amber winced. “We saw the news. The devastation looks horrific. I’m sure it’s even worse when it’s your personal property and not some clip on TV.”
Kayla nodded, surprised that tears prickled her eyes. What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn’t the crying type and definitely never caved to emotion around people she didn’t know near as well as her Powertools crew. Maybe it was hormones. Could she be going through menopause at thirty-eight?
Probably not.
She looked up at the sky and the fluffy clouds breezing past to clear the moisture away before it could leak out. Noah patted her cheek as if to tell her it would be okay.
“You know, Gavyn mentioned a plot of land for sale not too far from here and how awesome it would be for Bare Natural 2.” Amber didn’t meet Kayla’s gaze when she dropped that bomb, but the weight of her suggestion hit Kayla square in the chest.
Especially after she’d seen what the area had to offer right down by the Hot Rods garage and the lake Joe’s uncle Tom had graciously offered to sell him. It was idyllic, and filled with so much potential.
“He did?” If she hadn’t been bouncing Noah, keeping him distracted so they could talk, she might have fallen flat on her ass.
“Yeah. You should talk to him about it.” Amber cleared her throat. “I know he has his flaws, but he does have a head for business.”
“Oh, come on,” Sevan teased. “We know it’s really you who’s the mastermind behind Hot Rides.”
“We do it together. But seriously, he’s pretty smart about this stuff. Maybe he could help you think of ways not only to get back on your feet, but to turn this shitshow into a growth opportunity.” Amber was gentle with her suggestion, and kind. It meant a lot that she’d encourage Kayla to be closer to their little family.
She nodded. “Will you let him know I stopped by and that I’d like to talk to him when he has some time for me?”
“He’ll make time for you, Kayla,” Amber promised. “If I called him right now and told him you need him, he’d break every speed limit to get here. I’m sorry if he hasn’t always made you feel like that’s the case.”
“Oh.” Kayla blinked, and this time there was no stopping the droplet that formed at the corner of her eye from spilling onto her cheek. She hated being this fragile. “Don’t do that. But yeah, I’ll follow up with him sometime soon for sure. Thank you.”
Noah shrieked and giggled as all three women surrounded him and cuddled him in the middle as they shared one last epic embrace. Then Amber and Noah joined her in raiding Devra and Morgan’s bake session while Sevan returned to transforming that hunk of junk bike into a masterpiece.
Kayla felt lighter than she had in weeks. And wondered how long she could make the feeling last.
9
It had taken ten long, agonizing days—sped along only by the company she was keeping—but finally Kayla had gotten the call she’d been waiting for. A representative from her insurance company was going to meet her out at Bare Natural, or what little was left of it, the next morning.
They’d hurried back to Devon’s place so Kayla could print out her paperwork, review everything, and try desperately to get a good night’s rest before the big day.
Unfortunately, she was losing her mind instead. “Where the hell did I put the inventory list? I had it in my hand five minutes ago!”
She riffled through the previously neat and now disheveled papers on the cute desk in the corner of Neil, James, and Devon’s living room. Her elbow caught the glass of water Dave had plunked down and ordered her to drink before he’d gone out to the yard to play some kind of sportsball with Neil and James. Of course, she knocked it over. Water spilled across her documentation before the pretty pale blue cup tumbled off the desk and smashed on the hardwood floor.
“Shit! Shit!” Kayla scooped up what remained of it with her bare hand as if that would put it back together.
She should know by now that some things couldn’t be repaired.
“Kayla?” Devon popped her head in from the back porch where she’d been practicing some of the yoga moves Sabra and Holden had taught them while trying to help Kayla calm the fuck down in Middletown. It clearly wasn’t working for her.
“I’m sorry. Shit. I broke it.” She held her palm out, presenting the shards of glass.
“Be careful. You’ll cut yourself. Here.” Devon grabbed a trashcan and guided Kayla’s hand so that she dumped the glittery bits into it.
Pissed that she didn’t seem to be able to do anything right, not even get rid of the evidence of her mistakes, she snipped at Devon, “I’m not a child. I can clean this up.”
Devon withdrew her fingers as if burned. “Okay then. Go ahead. But maybe you should watch where you’re—“
“Ouch!” Kayla hopped on one foot as she plucked a sliver from the other. Fortunately it hadn’t gone in deep.”
“—stepping.”
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Kayla sank to her knees and finished picking up the glass. She knelt there and stared up at Devon.
“Maybe you’re forcing things too hard. Trying to make this happen when it’s not meant to be.” The other woman responded too fast to have thought of it in the moment. How long had she been waiting to say that?
“You think I should give up on Bare Natural?”
“I want you to see that things don’t have to always be like they were to be right.” Devon said it calmly, but her honesty sliced Kayla’s heart open as surely as if Devon had
